


It Could be Worse

by Kamari333



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Human Pets, Bara Sans (Undertale), Comfort Food, Dehumanization, Deja Vu, Depression, F/M, Food Issues, Human Pets, Language Barrier, Master/Pet, Medication, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pet humans, Post-Apocalypse, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader-Insert, reader is female
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2019-06-29 22:21:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15738477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamari333/pseuds/Kamari333
Summary: Not long after humanity brings itself to the brink of destruction, monsters come from the depths of the earth and establish themselves as the dominant species.Now humans are reduced to pets, and there has been little success in trying to communicate with the monsters.You just don't see the point of trying anymore.





	1. Getting Adopted as a Pet

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by tumblr's [3ff3rViskus](https://3ff3rviskus.tumblr.com/), when they were on Discord, and further encouraged by Rehlia ([[tumblr](https://rehlia.tumblr.com/)] & [[AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehlia/pseuds/Rehlia)])
> 
> I have so many WIPs and yet i could not leave this idea alone. Blame them. Its their fault.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Considering the kind of life you now live, you really don't care anymore.

Life... Could be worse.

Sure, the world's governments had run the planet into the ground, and now living, breathing, giant monsters had sprung from the depths of the earth and overtaken everything, and now humans were basically enslaved...

But it could be worse, right?

At least you didn't have to work anymore...

Now you, like many others, had been rounded up and put in the old warehouses, which had been outfitted into what, from what you could understand, were glorified pet stores. You were all separated by size, age, and eventually gender (apparently monsters didn't understand human reproduction, and when they did finally figure it out, they didn't like the idea of the humans multiplying unsupervised).

The monsters were good to you. Sort of. It was somewhat (ok, egregiously) degrading to be treated like you couldn't bathe or clothe yourself, and it pissed you off that they never tried to understand you. But you also couldn't do much about it, since neither you, nor anyone else, could seem to understand them either.

On the bright side, at least you didn't have to work anymore. Sure, the display cell you were put in was also home to another person, but they learned pretty quick that you weren't much for socialization, and left you alone unless you engaged them. And the bedding they gave out for you was comfortable.

Maybe it would be okay if you never left it? Why should it matter? You had no more home, no more family, the food kinda sucked, and you couldn't get on the internet anymore. No more writing, no more reading, no more TV... You had no real connection.

Sleeping was better.

Maybe you could just sleep until it was all a bad dream...

* * *

Your days became routine. The lights came on, the monsters brought you all out for breakfast. It was usually some kind of oatmeal, which you wouldn't touch. You gave it to your roommate, who loved the stuff. Then they put you all in a big recreational area, with toys like balls and hoops and some small climbing equipment. You usually just found the softest, most comfortable spot against the wall and curled up to sleep through it all. Sometimes, though, you couldn't sleep, and those were the bad days. You usually tried to get ahold of some kind of toy, anything to help you kill time, but very little helped. You were bored, and you missed doing the things you loved.

This was around the time of day that other monsters would come into the facility, the store, and look around. Sometimes they would pick up a person, and take them away. If you ever saw that person again, it was through the display glass of your cells, and that person was on a leash, being led around by the monsters who had adopted them.

There were mixed feelings about the whole arrangement. Some of the others were adamant that they wanted adopted, sure that it had to be better than staying here. Others were adamant that adoption would mean worse conditions, and utterly rejected the idea. You didn't care. A cage was a cage was a cage.

After 'playtime' it was lunchtime, where they passed out some kind of jerky. You didn't like that either, the smell making you gag. You gave that to your neighbor, who was a big fan of it. There was water around this time, which you did drink, but you couldn't force yourself to ingest much. After lunch you were all put back in your cells, which were displayed out to the front of the store by great panes of glass. It really did look like a big pet store. You just curled up in your bed and slept through it until 'bath time' came around, when the monsters would pull you all out one by one and scrub you down gently, combing your hair out and changing your clothes. As long as the water wasn't too cold or too hot, you didn't care enough to fuss about it.

Then they put you all back into your cells and finished running the store, until closing, when the lights dimmed, and you were left alone for the night.

You liked this routine. It meant you had plenty of time to sleep, to not have to _be there_.

At some point, however, the monsters who were overseeing the facility (a couple of giant bipedal rabbits, who everyone agreed had to be the bosses based on how the other monsters deferred to them) seemed to take an interest in you. You largely ignored them. They started picking you up like a baby, moving you around, even during 'playtime'. They engaged you with playing catch, tried to make you play fetch. A part of you wanted to scream, to fight, but... What was the point? They were bigger than you, stronger than you, and they wouldn't understand what you said any more than you understood their hushed, insistent murmurs. So you just went limp, let them do what they wanted. Eventually they got bored and put you back, then you could go back to sleep.

After a few days, you didn't even need them to put you back down to return to sleep. You drifted right back under as soon as you recognized their furry paws on you. They hadn't hurt you so far, and if they were going to, you couldn't stop them, right?

Sometimes they would hold you in their lap and nudge your cheek, your stomach, your shoulder, until you blinked up to pay attention to them. They tried to feed you. You ignored their attempts, and if they put their hands in your mouth, you would bite down lightly as a warning, which generally ended in you coughing and sputtering on their fur, but also ended their attempts. You had always been a picky eater, a comfort eater, a recreational eater. You saw no point eating for survival if survival meant _this_. You were dimly aware that you had lost weight. You didn't care.

You woke up one day and found you were attached to an IV drip, one of the monsters sitting nearby watching you closely, only to run out of the room and bring back the rabbits.

It was almost funny, actually. If you didn't know any better, you'd think those bunnies were worried about you.

* * *

After that, you started getting little pills with your food. At first, you didn't know what they were, and refused to take them. The monsters ended up holding you down and stuffing them down your throat. You hated it. You curled up in a ball and sobbed at the outrage, the indignity, for what must have been hours.

The pills didn't seem to do anything to you. After the first few times of having them force fed, you just started taking them yourself. It was better than being man-handled. It didn't stop you from crying at every meal.

You don't know how long it had been, but at some point, they must have become desperate to get you to eat. One of them carried you to a big table laid out with a veritable feast, or it would have been if it wasn't just the usual spread with all the available flavors. The smell didn't even entice you. You gave the table a sideways glance, then shrugged and closed your eyes again.

The rabbits must have been upset by your response, since they started talking to each other. You tried to tune it out, but every time you were about to fall asleep, the one holding you would nudge you and jolt you awake. You sighed, shifting to get more comfortable (at least the rabbits were soft and warm), and hoped they got bored soon.

The little bell rang from the front of the building. That meant someone had come in to adopt. You didn't care. It had never affected you, and never would.

The rabbits stood up, and the one put you back in your cell, where you curled right back to sleep.

* * *

You swear it wasn't two minutes later someone was tapping loudly on the glass display of your cell. You heard loud, fast talking from a deep, strange voice, followed by the voice of your rabbit caretaker. You pulled your little blanket over your head and curled into a tighter ball. They were probably going on about your roommate, who, like so many others in the facility, had been vying for attention lately, trying to get adopted. You hoped that that worked out for them as you drifted back to sleep.

* * *

To your great chagrin, you were again hauled out of your bed. What could they possibly want now? You didn't care. You sighed again, hoping it would be something quick, not bothering to open your eyes. You supposed it might be bath time already. Your sense of time had never been very good, and it had only gotten worse since coming here. You didn't fight when the bunny untangled you from your blanket, even though you wanted nothing more than to keep hold of it

Apparently, it was time to break the routine, as, after a few words from the rabbit, you were deposited into someone else's arms. The fabric of their clothes was soft, and smelled faintly of greasy food. You felt your stomach rumble weakly, the scent reminding you of french fries and fast food you were certain you would never taste again. You nuzzled into the smell, sighing happily, thinking it was just a weird hunger-fueled dream.

It might very well have become one, if you hadn't been startled by that loud, deep voice you'd heard earlier, only much closer and no longer muffled by a sheet of glass. You jumped, eyes shooting open to see what the hell you'd been dragged into and why they were so loud about it.

You were in the arms of a huge skeleton, one wearing a blue jacket with a grey hood. It didn't have empty sockets, exactly, as two eery points of soft white light shown down on you from inside them. That light did nothing to illuminate the inside of its skull, which was wider and rounder than what you would expect of a human skull, almost cartoonish. You were thankful; the clear difference made it significantly easier repress the _utter terror_ at seeing a giant moving skeleton.

You heard the rabbit monster say something, then the loud voice went off again, drawing your attention to _another_ skeleton, the source of the noise. This one was even bigger, with sharper features, and more anatomically correct proportions, making him even more fearsome. Not to mention, he (was it a he? it sounded like a he) was particularly loud, especially compared to the soft spoken rabbits who had been your only real socialization for... however long you had been in there.

You were more than just a bit overwhelmed. You felt your heart hammer in your chest and your joints lock up stiffly, as your flight-or-fight response kicked in for the first time in ages. You tried to hold perfectly still, hoping that maybe if you did, they'd get bored with you and put you back. You wanted to go back, _you wanted to go back, please for the love of god put you down, put you down, put you down-_!!

The skeleton monster holding you shifted its grip, so you were sitting on its one arm, cradled in the crook of its shoulder. It used its other hand to... pet your head? It was murmuring something, deep and low, but also much softer than his companion (another he? it sounded like a he too). His voice was... surprisingly nice? The soothing nature of it was immensely helpful at getting you calmed down, as was (to your great embarrassment and shame) the way he kept stroking your head, pressing down lightly at the spot at the back of your neck where your skull attached, where the tension gathered.

You rubbed your eyes, taking deep, calming breaths. _It was okay._ Or, at the very least, it was as 'okay' as a situation like this was likely to get. They weren't hurting you. They weren't doing anything invasive. It- He- _the skeleton_ was just holding you, apparently trying to calm you down.

You heard the rabbit monster's voice, but it was higher, more cheerful? It almost reminded you of how people spoke to a customer-

Wait-

Were they trying to adopt you?! To a _skeleton?!_

...Your indignation fizzled out. What did it matter? Either they would or they wouldn't, and you certainly couldn't do much about it. You sighed, relaxing into the soft fabric of the blue jacket, closing your eyes. If you ignored how undignified it was to let some total stranger manhandle and pet you (and what dignity did you even have left?), you could get pretty comfortable like this.

The louder one and the rabbit monster continued to talk to each other. The one holding you kept stroking gently at your head, occasionally throwing his two cents in. They eventually came to some sort of agreement, because the one holding you went and sat down on a stool, while his larger companion ran back and forth around the store, gathering what looked to be supplies and necessities which you could only assume were for your caretaking. You saw a bundle of clothes (mostly in bright gaudy colors you wouldn't be caught dead in if you had a say in things), a few pillows, a dog bed, a couple dog dishes, what looked like different kinds of soap, a leash and a collar (both in roughly the same shade of blue as the jacket you were dozing against). You didn't want to even touch the mess of feelings seeing those gave you, so you shoved them away into the back of your mind to deal with later.

As you watched, you could hear the skeleton murmur to you, low and calm, a voice probably meant to be reassuring. You supposed it was a good thing, the monster taking you home having a voice you could get used to. It didn't make everything better, but it made it more tolerable.

Tolerable was good enough by this point.

At the register, the bunny monster also handed the larger monster a bottle, containing those awful pills.

You watched apathetically as you were sold, and let yourself fall back asleep as you were carried away.

It could be worse, right?


	2. Adopting a Pet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus decides Sans needs something to take care of, and what better than a pet?

Papyrus had had enough. It had been three years -- _three years_ \-- since they had ascended to the surface, and Sans had only gotten worse. He only left the house to run his (still technically illegal but nobody said anything about it) hotdog stand, make a fool of himself at Grillby's with his awful puns, and occasionally stargaze. It was like pulling teeth to get him to socialize properly, to come out with Papyrus and their friends and have normal fun.

It was impossible to get him to do any cleaning. His room was still a sty. He kept drinking himself to sleep and waking up to nightmares at 3AM.

Maybe on the surface, none of those things seemed particularly bad, but Papyrus could see there was something wrong. Sans didn't have the energy he used to, the drive, the life in him. He was sad, no matter how often Papyrus cheered him up. That was unacceptable.

Papyrus decided it was high time for a change.

The only question was, _how_?

He sat and thought about it for weeks, and weeks, and it was only while he was house sitting for their majesties, keeping an eye on their little pet, Frisk, while the two of them went to marriage counseling, that the idea struck him:

Sans was, fundamentally, a caring soul. Sans never took care of himself, but he had always, _always_ taken care of Papyrus. Now, Papyrus had long since grown into a magnificent adult monster, and no longer needed his big brother as much as he, admittedly, once used to, and even their pet rock had moved out to greener pastures, but... Sans hadn't stopped being who he is.

He just didn't have anyone to care for anymore, who needed him as much.

Oh, yes, Papyrus had the perfect plan. He laughed, bouncing the well-behaved little Frisk on his lap, excited to put it into action.

* * *

Sans smiled indulgently as he leaned back in the seat of the car, scratching at the edge of the blindfold he had agreed to wear. "gonna tell me where we're goin' bro?"

"NYEH HEH HEH! OF COURSE NOT!! THAT WOULD RUIN THE SURPRISE!!" Papyrus replied, patting Sans' shoulder before returning his hand to the wheel. "BUT IT IS GOING TO CHANGE EVERYTHING!! I JUST KNOW IT!"

Sans chuckled. "so... you can feel it in your _bones_?"

"YES, I C-" Papyrus stopped, and Sans could picture the look of outrage on his face. "OH MY GOD SANS!!"

Sans snickered. "aw, c'mon bro, i'm just _ribbin'_ ya."

"SANS!!"

"what? are my puns not _humerus_?"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

The car slowed, made a turn, and then eventually came to a halt. Sans heard his brother unbuckle both of their seatbelts, then get out of the car. Sans, ever the patient monster, waited until his brother had opened the passenger side door, guided him safely out of the car, positioned him to face the direction of his choosing, and untied the blindfold.

"SURPRISE!! WE'RE GETTING YOU A PET!!"

Sans blinked up at the huge warehouse, recognizing the name. "a human?? ya wanna get a pet human?" He carefully schooled his expression, keeping his smile in place. He'd heard how ornery and difficult some humans could be. Sure, Toriel's little Frisk was an absolute sweetheart, and incredibly smart, but that was more the exception that proved the rule. Humans were largely dangerous and ill-behaved. And they grew big, and require a lot of stimulation. It seemed like more work than it was worth to Sans.

"CORRECTION, I WANT TO GET _YOU_ A PET HUMAN!!" Papyrus said excitedly, before putting a steadying hand on Sans' shoulder. "BROTHER, I KNOW WE DO NOT AGREE ON EVERYTHING, BUT YOU ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO ME. AND I HAVE NEVER SEEN YOU BE MORE OF YOUR VERY-GREAT-BUT-NOT-NEARLY-AS-GREAT-AS-ME SELF THAN WHEN YOU ARE CARING FOR SOMEONE ELSE. I THINK THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WILL HELP YOU. GET YOU OUTSIDE. KEEP YOU COMPANY WHEN YOUR AMAZING BROTHER IS BUSY BEING AMAZING ELSEWHERE."

Sans sighed, chuckling. "how can i say no to something like that? alright. lets go look. maybe we'll find one like frisk."

"YES!!" Papyrus posed, laughing victoriously, and then bounded into the store. Sans shook his head, following at a much more leisurely pace. He'd look over all the ones in stock, explain that they just weren't his type, and then they could go home.

By the time Sans had made his way inside, his brother was already in the back, talking excitedly with the shopkeeper, a friendly leporid monster.

"I AM LOOKING FOR A HUMAN FOR MY BROTHER!! HE NEEDS SOMETHING AFFECTIONATE THAT ENJOYS CUDDLES!! MAYBE SOMETHING WITH LOW ENERGY, SINCE THIS IS HIS FIRST PET IN SOME TIME AND HE IS VERY LAZY." He tapped on the glass. "LIKE THAT ONE IN THE BACK!! ONLY MAYBE NOT THAT LAZY."

"Oh..." The bunny looked between Papyrus and the subject of conversation. "I don't think that one is lazy, exactly... More like she is sick. She never eats anything, and she never wants to play with the others... We have to give her nutritional pills every day. I..." She leaned closer, whispering. "I think the poor thing is falling down. We've kept her alive for a few years, thinking maybe it was just the stress of so much change, but unless we can get her eating again? We'll have to let her..."

Papyrus looked utterly appalled.

Sans looked into the cage, scrutinizing the figure curled up under the blanket. He almost pitied it.

"WHAT IS IT LIKE WHEN ITS NOT FALLING?" Papyrus finally asked.

The leporid beamed. "Oh, she's a little angel! Very well behaved, and quite friendly, if a little shy. She won't bite or kick when picked up, like some of the others, even after she's gotten her energy back. She doesn't like having things put in her mouth, but even then she doesn't bite very hard, just enough pressure to let us know we're upsetting her. Honestly, she's my favorite. Thats what makes it so sad..." She looked back into the cage. "Poor thing. It breaks my heart to see her like this."

Papyrus looked at Sans. Sans knew that look. He sighed, rubbing his skull. "alright. lets.. i dunno, introduce ourselves?"

Papyrus beamed. "YES!!"

The leporid monster smiled, darting into the back. Sans watched as she unlocked the cage from the other side, and carefully scooped up the bundle. The other human in the cage crossed its arms, looking almost upset about it.

When the leporid monster returned, the human in its arms looked like it was already back to sleep. "See?" The leporid said, smiling. "The most docile little thing! And she learns quickly if you're patient with her. Do you... want to hold her?"

Sans hesitated, before carefully reaching out and taking the human into his own arms. It was light, considering its size, and fit rather nicely in his hold. The human shifted, snuggling into his chest, not even bothering to open its eyes.

"I think she likes you," the leporid hummed. "Usually she at least looks up to see who has her."

"AWWWW!! ITS ADORABLE!!" Papyrus cooed.

The human jumped, clearly startled, and looked up at Sans. Sans couldn't help but notice the glimmer of fear in its eyes.

"She," the rabbit corrected. "We think she's maybe in her twenties, from her teeth. A fully grown adult, so she won't be getting any bigger than this."

"SO SHE IS ALREADY HOUSE TRAINED? WONDERFUL!!" Papyrus reasoned aloud, grinning.

The human snapped its- _her_ head to look at Papyrus, only for the fear in their eyes to magnify three-fold and their face to go startlingly pale. Sans felt how her whole body locked up, then start to quiver and shake. Her chest heaved as her breathing became rapid, labored, and sweat beaded on her face and neck. The thing was _terrified_.

And of Papyrus, no less.

Sans had never seen a pet go into a panic attack before. He did know, however, how to sooth a scared animal. He'd seen Toriel do it enough with Frisk. He shifted his grip, propping the human upright against his chest and supporting them with one arm, so he could more effectively massage at her head and neck with the other. "hey, shhh, it's just paps. no reason to get so _rattled_ , heh. you're alright. you're alright..."

Sans wasn't sure if it was working at first (he'd certainly never done this before), but soon enough the human had started to breath a bit more evenly, rubbing its face. Even Sans had to admit it was cute.

"As you can see, she's very well behaved, even when upset. She responds well to soft, calm voices and would be nearly ideal for first time pet owners, if not for her eating issue. If you do decide to take her, the first bottle of her prescription is free, but you'll have to pay for refills after that." The leporid spoke as politely as possible, but she was beaming smugly. She knew she had already made a sale. The rest was just formality.

"OF COURSE WE'LL TAKE HER!! BESIDES, IF ANYONE CAN GET HER TO EAT, IT WILL BE THE GREAT SPAGHETTOR PAPYRUS AND HIS BROTHER SANS!!" Papyrus struck a pose, confidence sparkling off of him as his scarf billowed in a nonexistent breeze. "NOW WE JUST NEED TO PICK UP A FEW ESSENTIALS!! WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND??"

"Well, humans are hairless for the most part, so we highly recommend getting them some clothes. Their skin is surprisingly sensitive to cold and heat, and they will burn if left in the sun too long."

"REALLY?!?!"

"Oh, yes! My little one was playing with our pet human in the back yard, and they turned a worrisome shade of red!" The leporid gestured at her face, as though to emphasize. "The red spots caused them terrible pain too, just touching them make them yowl and scream terribly, and ours is usually a very quiet human! They refused to go outside for days, and then their skin started pealing off!!"

"my kind of pet," Sans commented, although he held the human in his arms a little closer, keeping up the petting. "the kind that can't be outside too long."

"SHE SAID THE HUMAN CANNOT BE OUTSIDE WITHOUT COVERING," Papyrus reminded him. "SO THAT JUST MEANS KEEPING THEM CLOTHED AND IN THE SHADE!!"

"You would think so, but then humans are also terribly sensitive to heat, and can get very sick if they get too hot. You wouldn't believe how many poor humans got sick the first summer after adoptions went out! So you can't bundle them up in the summer, or when its too warm. Thats why we have a lotion you can put on them when you plan on being outside for more than a few minutes."

"SO YOU DON'T NEED CLOTHES, JUST THE LOTION??" Papyrus asked.

"Well, technically? But I've found most humans don't like being without clothing? Its actually rather cute, they become nervous and try to hide. Boys don't mind going without a shirt, as long as its not too cold, but girls tend to be more picky..."

"you said this was a girl, right?" Sans cut in. "so its gonna wanna wear thin stuff during the summer?"

"Probably. This one is a bit more sensitive to temperature than some of the others..."

"ARE THEY SENSITIVE TO COLD ALSO??"

"Very! This one will burrow into anything warm if she gets cold. Leaving a blanket or two out for her would probably make her feel more at home!"

"GOOD TO KNOW!! NOW, ABOUT HYGIENE..."

Sans shook his head, deciding his brother could handle the basics without him. As the leporid and his brother went about gathering everything they would need for their new pet, Sans sat down on a stool, trying to keep the human calm. "there, see? good girl... guess you're coming home with us, huh? don't worry, you'll get used to paps..." He grinned wider as he noticed the human was watching Papyrus roam up and down the store. Sans cringed inwardly at the clothing selection, making a mental note to keep an eyesocket out for some more subdued colors.

Papyrus handled paying for everything, and graciously carried the bags as they left, chittering happily about how excited he was to see Sans' new pet make themselves at home. Sans listened with the same attentiveness as always, but found most of his attention was on his new pet, which had curled up and gone back to sleep in his arms.


	3. New Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get brought home. Already things seem different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS CRAP~ XD i feel like this is not going well but aaaaaaaaaaaaa ok take it

As soon as they were in the car, Papyrus dug the leash and collar out of the shopping bags, cutting the tags off with a small bone construct, and (after meticulously removing those annoying little plastic bits) handed them to Sans. Sans settled his new pet in his lap, glad she had gone back to sleep so he didn't have to worry too much about her moving around. He carefully secured the collar around her neck, a nervous smile pulling at his teeth. It had been a long time since he had felt... like he had a purpose, like what he did _mattered._

Papyrus was so cool. He knew what Sans needed even before he himself did.

Sans looked over at his brother as he got into the car. "uh... thanks, bro. you're the greatest."

"I KNOW I AM!" Papyrus replied as he buckled his seatbelt (reminding Sans to do so himself, a difficult feat with his new pet now in his lap -- he ended up passing her to Papyrus while he buckled up, then taking her back afterwards). "AND YOU ARE VERY WELCOME!!"

The drive home was uneventful. Sans kept finding himself drawn back to his new pet, which he honestly needed to think of a name for. He hesitated for a moment, before taking one of his mittens off and threading his phalanges through her hair, enjoying the textile sensation as he thought about some traditional skeleton names. He didn't know what kind of names humans had, after all, so he might as well induct her into the family, so to speak.

Arial? Calisto? Zurich? Vagabond? Geneva? Helvetica? Lucida? Tahoma? Serif?

It was hard to choose, and more work than Sans had put into much of anything in years. Asgore's simple, effortless naming conventions made more and more sense.

"SO WHAT WILL HER NAME BE?" Papyrus asked, breaking Sans from his thoughts.

"was thinkin' 'fleshy', ya know? because of all the skin," Sans said with a perfectly straight face. "or maybe fluffy. she's real soft, after all."

"SANS! BE SERIOUS!" Papyrus scolded. "THIS IS YOUR VERY SPECIAL HUMAN PET, AND A NAME YOU WILL BE SAYING ALL THE TIME! PLUS, THOSE ARE VERY COMMON NAMES!! YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO TRAIN HER TO RECOGNIZE HER NAME, SO SHE COMES WHEN SHE IS CALLED!!"

Sans had considered that too. "yeah. but what would fit?"

"WHAT ABOUT FRANKLIN?"

"nah."

"IMPACT?"

"not quite."

"STENCIL!!"

"a bit too bold."

Papyrus smirked at him. "WELL, WHAT EXACTLY IS YOUR TYPE THEN?"

Sans snorted, clutching onto the human a little tighter as he fell into a brief giggling fit. "good one bro."

Papyrus laughed triumphantly.

The human made a whining noise. Sans eased off on his grip, rubbing her shoulder apologetically. He needed to be more careful, considering how fragile humans seemed to be. "i dunno..."

"HOW ABOUT... KORINNA?" Papyrus offered.

Sans almost dismissed that idea as well, but then he looked down at his pet. 'Korinna' sounded like one of those expensive little doll's names, and also sounded a lot like 'core', which reminded him of The Core™ that provided energy to the underground for so long. And Papyrus _had_ insisted on getting her to energize him... while the human seemed to have no energy of her own...

"welp, its not gonna come up often," Sans hummed, going back to petting the human's- Korinna's- head. She made an adorable, breathy humming noise, before shifting position and drifting further back to sleep.

Damn. He was already getting attached.

* * *

The next thing you know, you're somewhere entirely new.

You're still in that skeleton's arms (or more accurately, his lap). There is a nostalgic smell in the air, besides even that of the greasy food smell that clung to the skeleton's clothes. It was like leather, and upholstery, and something acrid. You looked up, blinking at the overly bright light of the _sun_ in your face, hissing as it hurt your eyes. You had never liked the sun much to begin with, but now you weren't accustomed to it. You heard a deep chuckle over your head, then felt something hard, firm, and cool comb through your hair and knead at your scalp.

You hear the skeleton murmur to you. You looked up, blinking away the glare to get a better look at his face. You were still a tad scared (after all, even if his body type was vastly disproportionate from a human skeleton, it was still a skeleton with creepy, empty sockets), but his voice certainly made it easier to stay calm. You vaguely realized he was now touching you with his bare phalanges, smooth, cool bone against your skin, in a hand big enough to wrap completely around your throat and touch the tip of his index to his thumb. That should have had you screaming. You just couldn't bring yourself to care. It wasn't hurting you. It actually felt kind of nice.

The fact that it felt nice should have scared you. You just couldn't care about that either.

You yawned, closing your eyes again and trying to go back to sleep. It didn't matter if you were awake for this or not, whatever it was would happen regardless.

It was as you were getting comfortable again that you noticed that something was around your neck. You reached up, feeling at it, your hand coming in contact with soft leather and cold metal. Something twisted and tightened in the back of your throat, burning at your eyes, as you realized it was that collar (the one in the pleasant shade of blue).

You squeezed at the collar, fighting the urge to rip it off and throw it in the skeleton's face, on the floor, anywhere if it meant being away from you. _You were a Person. You were a Person, too._ People did not wear collars!!

( _No, that wasn't entirely true. Sometimes people wore collars too. Sometimes people chose to put on collars because it meant something, like that they trusted someone else to be there and take care of them. But you didn't trust these monsters. You hadn't chosen to wear this collar. Thats not what this was. This was a collar of dehumanization, not bonded trust. And you hated it._ )

Your hand went slack in moments, falling away from the accessory, leaving it in place. Taking it off and throwing a tantrum would do nothing. They would just put it back on you, or replace it with a more uncomfortable one. You had no power here, no say. So what was the point in fussing about it?

It could be worse. At least the material was comfortable.

You heard a click, familiar and nostalgic, much like the ambient scents in the air. It took your brain a few more moments to put it all together -- you were in a car, and someone had opened a door.

The skeleton picked you up more firmly, and got out of his seat. You heard another car door open, and then the sound of plastic being disturbed. The other skeleton monster must have been getting the stuff out of the car. A crisp wind blew, the chill clawing through your thin clothes, making you shiver. The hand that had been in your hair came down to rub your arm and back.

Again you heard the skeleton's voice, just as you felt him start to move. The hand that had been stroking you fell away, and you heard soft scraping and a jangle, right before the click of metal on metal, and the squeak of door hinges. You looked up again, only to see an enormous door swing open and the monster waltz into an enormous house, with an enormous livingroom.

All the furniture was far too big for human use, the seat of the couch being better aligned with your shoulders. The skeleton spoke again, gesturing broadly at the room, which you took in with an odd fascination.

You took in the ridiculous color scheme, the tacky purple and blue zigzag carpet, cold colors mixing poorly with the warm red-ish hues of the cedar walls. The TV was gigantic, and you were mildly surprised to see electronics that looked like peripheral player devices (whether they be for games or video, you couldn't be certain, the icons and designs foreign to you with the sole exception of an old VHS player that had been lovingly refurbished). You were hit with a cold anger, that the monsters continued to live with such luxuries when you had been so denied, only for the anger to melt into a dark apathy. After all, you couldn't do anything about it, whether you were adopted or not.

_Pets don't get toys like that._

You shrugged, more to yourself than anything else (after all, you doubted that the monsters would care to pay attention to your mood or opinion) before closing your eyes again and dozing.

You heard both skeletons converse with each other, but you could not bring yourself to care. Your mind briefly wandered down the line of how long it had been since you had been taken, for them to have the time to demolish the (admittedly, most likely crumbling, as fewer and fewer people could afford to keep and maintain them right up until the end) human homes and rebuild ones of this size in their place. You supposed magic was rather helpful in that regard.

Kind of like it was helpful in dissipating radioactive isotopes like harmless smoke, which was, admittedly, super fucking helpful.

You felt yourself moved from the skeleton's arms to a surface that was surprisingly comfortable, if a bit lumpy. You looked up to see you were now on the couch, the skeleton easing down beside you, eyelights trained on you. You shifted, getting more comfortable, shimmying up against the back of the oversized couch to try to sleep, but you were suddenly cold. The couch was freezing, the house was freezing, and you were still in your threadbare prisoner nightdress. You tried to curl up to get warm, but it was a vain attempt.

The skeleton rumbled a single, questioning word to you. You didn't understand him, but you understood the tone: amused, curious, _mocking_. You felt a wave of indignation, before it passed back into your apathy. You hugged your legs to your chest, pressing as tight as you could into the smallest possible ball to vainly cover every inch of yourself, like an ouroboros trying to eat its own tail.

It was cold. You were tired. You just wanted to be left alone.

There were two soft clacks, making you look up. The skeleton smiled (well, he couldn't help but smile, but it somehow reached his eyes more? Even though he didn't have any?? Skeleton expressions were a serious mindfuck) down at you, patting his lap again, making the same noise. _Was he calling you? Like a fucking dog?_ Again your meager pride snarled in outrage, and you curled up even more, shivering in the chill air.

The skeleton patted his lap again, but you didn't look up this time. Eventually, you heard a breathy huff, and the shift of fabric, right before you were draped in something warm that smelled of ketchup and grease and sweat. _It was warm._ You pulled it tighter around you, wiggling inside it to get comfortable. It was that blue jacket the skeleton had been wearing, more than big enough to cover your whole body if you curled up a little. You clung to it, sighing as you finally started to drift back off again.

The next thing you know, you are being forcibly removed from the confines of that jacket. You go limp, pliant, even as your heart races and you feel every inch of you scream out to return to the warmth. The second skeleton had tugged you free, chittering happily at you (or perhaps to himself, hell if you knew) as he carried you in both hands across the room to the kitchen.

The taller skeleton sat you down in front of the dog dishes, which you could see were now filled. One had water in it, the other had oatmeal. You looked up at him, wondering if he was serious or just hadn't gotten the message that you didn't play this game. You pointedly turned away from the dishes (which were on the floor, not even at a table, not even just _handed to you_ ), and sat down on the (thankfully pristine) tile floor, curling up again as best you could. It didn't matter if you were on a couch or on the floor, you were still tired. You could sleep anywhere.

You heard a gasp of utter shock and dismay over your head. You didn't even have it in you to find it funny.

You heard the two monsters exchange words above you, then felt yourself picked up and again. It was the first skeleton, the one with the blue jacket. You felt the warmth radiating off of him, and found yourself curling up closer despite yourself (you really were cold). He started petting your head again, and a part of you wanted to smack his hand away, but... why waste the energy? Besides, he was warm.

Warm was the closest you were ever going to come to feeling safe.

The skeleton sat down at the table, still playing with your hair as he continued to talk to the other one.

You listened to their exchange, noting vaguely that one word seemed to stand out. You had no idea what it meant, although it sounded like... 'sans'? You looked up, surprised and confused that they would be saying any recognizable word at all. The skeleton holding you was just sitting there, eyelights twinkling in mirth as the other stomped his foot with what was mildly alarming irritation.

The taller one pouted for a moment, arms crossed, before seeming to be pacified by the words of the other. Then they rummaged in one of the shopping bags on the counter (which was as high as you were tall, and yet was barely above waist hight on that huge ass skeleton), until he pulled out something small(-ish). It was the bottle that those pills came in.

You felt your stomach roil and your eyes burn. You thought you were going to throw up (again -- it wouldn't be the first time).

The bottle was opened, then held out to the skeleton holding you, who took one and examined it for a moment. Then he looked down at you, and offered you the pill.

You were shaking. You didn't want it. You _hated it_. But you didn't want the indignity of having it forcibly shoved down your throat, and you knew the monsters weren't above doing that. You felt hot, angry, frustrated tears start to spill down your cheeks, and you reluctantly reached out to take it, hands shaking. _Fuck, just looking at it had your tongue remembering the bitter acrid taste of powder and bile._ Your stomach lurched inside you. You were definitely going to be sick again this time.

Just as you were about to grab ahold of the hateful drug, it was pulled out of your reach, and set on the table by the pill bottle.

The two monsters seemed to bicker more, the one holding you gesturing to you. The taller one seemed to scold him. You heard that word again — 'sans'. The one holding you brushed your tears from your face, surprisingly gentle for his size. You took a deep breath. They were obviously arguing about the drug, about what to do with you. You hoped they hadn't taken your hesitance for non-compliance. That was the last thing you needed.

Apparently, something the monster holding you said must have satisfied the other, as the taller one brightened suddenly and clapped his hands, before marching out of the kitchen towards the front door. The monster holding you moved more slowly, easing himself up out of the chair, cradling you to his chest while murmuring to you.

You wiped at your face, yawning as you let yourself sink back into sweet, sweet oblivion. If they weren't going to make you take that horrid pill, then this place was already a step up from the pet store. You still couldn't quite bring yourself to care, at least not enough to stay awake. What did it matter? They would do what they wanted.

At least the skeleton was warm.

* * *

Just as Papyrus parked the car in the driveway, Korinna woke up.

She looked up, only to blink, her face scrunching up in discomfort as she made a hissing noise. Sans couldn't help but chuckle. He should have figured she wouldn't be used to such bright sunlight, but the reaction was adorable. He carded his phalanges through her hair, hoping it would help to soothe her. 

"alright, korinna, welcome home," Sans murmured. He had a plan already in mind for how to start training her. There was going to be a lot of talking involved, but he didn't mind that. Now, though, the first thing he needed her to start recognizing was her name. "you'll like it here, korinna. home's great. lots of places to nap."

Korinna yawned, giving Sans a brief glimpse of the tips of her teeth (cute) as she closed her eyes again. She shifted a little (also cute), before going unusually stiff. Her hand came up and she pawed at her new collar. Sans kept petting at her head, trying to convey that it was okay, even though it was new and probably a bit uncomfortable.

Thankfully, Korinna didn't try to tug or pull it off. She felt at it for a moment or two, then went back to getting comfortable in his arms. It was only after Sans was certain she was settled and comfortable that he opened the car door and eased his way out, careful to hold his new pet more firmly so as not to drop or jostle her as he moved. He hoped the ride was a smooth one.

Papyrus, who had been patiently waiting while Sans made sure Korinna was calm and secure, finally got out of the car and went to grab the bags from the back. Sans paused to send his brother an appreciative smile when he felt the body in his arms start to shiver. He looked back down at his pet, remembering how the shopkeeper had warned them of how sensitive humans were to temperature.

Sans rubbed at Korinna's back, hoping the added friction would assist in keeping her warm for the few moments they would be outside. The shivering lessoned, marginally. "don't worry, korrina. we'll in inside in a sec."

Sans made his way to the front door, fumbling a bit with his keys before he could get it open. He stepped inside with a flourish, grinning as he gestured to the room. "see? home sweet home."

Sans watched his new pet for her reaction to the house. He saw a few signs of tension (maybe aggression?), then she seemed to shrug, and try to go back to sleep.

"WELL?! WHAT DOES SHE THINK??" Papyrus asked excitedly as he brought the bags in, setting the majority of them out in the livingroom while he took a few specific ones with him as he headed for the kitchen.

"don't seem all that impressed, bro," Sans admitted, a little disappointed.

Papyrus waved dismissively at Sans' budding dejection. "SHE IS PROBABLY JUST HUNGRY!! FEAR NOT! I SHALL PREPARE SOMETHING TO PIQUE HER INTEREST! NYEH HEH HEH!!"

Sans smiled, watching his brother head into the kitchen to prepare Korinna's first meal home. He figured it might take a bit for Paps to finish the presentation, so he thought maybe now was a good time to try a few trust exercises.

Sans carefully set Korinna down on the couch, before sitting down on the opposite side. He watched to see what she would do, both pleased and somewhat concerned to see her only shift and curl up for warmth before trying to sleep again. He saw her start to shake.

"cold?" Sans asked, somewhat amused. _Everything she did was cute, it was crazy._ This had to be some sort of crazy first time pet owner euphoria. He watch as his pet curled up further, into the smallest possible ball. It was obvious she was cold. Sans felt a small stab of guilt for teasing her.

Time to initiate step one; trust.

Sans pat at his lap, making sure it was audible to draw Korinna's attention. He was more than happy to share some of his body heat, and he wanted his new pet to feel comfortable around him. Sans wasn't ashamed to admit he might be daydreaming of having a nap buddy, someone to curl up with him and doze through the evening and keep him company at night. That wouldn't happen unless the human trusted him and approached him on her own.

Korinna looked back at him, and he swore it was almost an offended expression. Then she curled back up again, trying and failing to make herself even smaller, shivering even harder. Sans tried again, a little louder, but she didn't even look up at him. Sans watched her shiver, looking cold and scared and a little angry. It wasn't what he wanted. He might be lazy, but if he made a promise he was going to do his damnedest to keep it.

Sans sighed, shucking off his jacket before carefully draping it over his little human. He felt his SOUL give a few happy flutters, seeing Korinna cling to it and snuggle down, looking immensely more comfortable and warm. Sans made a mental note to start a little blanket collection. This was adorable. Sans was more than happy to just watch her sleep, glad to see he could at least do something right.

Soon enough, Papyrus was done setting up in the kitchen. He almost opened his mouth to announce like normal, but Sans shushed him with a finger to his teeth, gesturing to the human bundled in his jacket. Papyrus caught on to his thoughts, and carefully knelt down to untangle the human from his coat, waking her up without startling her like they had in the store. Papyrus carried her into the kitchen. After pulling his jacket back on, Sans made a point to follow behind.

"NYEH HEH HEH!! NOW, SLIGHTLY-LESS-TINY-THAN-FRISK-BUT-STILL-TINY HUMAN!! IT IS TIME TO EAT!! HOW LUCKY YOU ARE TO HAVE SUCH A MAGNIFICENT CHEF AS THE GREAT PAPYRUS TO PREPARE YOUR FIRST WELCOME HOME MEAL!!"

His brother set down his pet in front of the two dog dishes, which had been filled with water and human oatmeal respectively. Sans watched from the kitchen doorway, feeling the same anticipation Papyrus was displaying with his hand wringing and bright eager smile. Korinna looked up at his taller brother, head tilted to one side in a silent question. Then...

Then she pointedly turned away from the dishes, sat down on the floor, and curled up to go back to sleep, completely unimpressed and uninterested.

The eye-bulging expression of shock on Papyrus' face was borderline comical, as was the gasp that ripped from him. "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE??" He demanded the ether, throwing his hands up.

"maybe she don't like oatmeal?" Sans suggested reasonably as he approached his picky pet.

"WHO DOESN'T LIKE OATMEAL?!?!" Papyrus asked, offended by the very suggestion.

"korrina, apparently," Sans couldn't help but sass as he picked her up. Korinna nuzzled closer to him, clinging to his jacket for warmth. Sans knew objectively that she was only seeking out his body heat, but his SOUL did another little flutter, tricked into believing there was some kind of emotional attachment. He pet her head, again amazed by how soft and small she was, as he sat down at the table.

"THIS MAKES NO SENSE!! FRISK ISN'T NEARLY THIS PICKY!" Papyrus lamented, vocalizing his dismay.

"this is really _eating_ at ya, huh bro?" Sans teased, toying with the human's hair gently with his fingers.

"YES, AS A MATTER OF FA- SANS!!" Papyrus groaned.

"what? was that in poor _taste?_ "

"SANS!!!"

"well, your cooking's always been hard to _digest_."

"OH MY GOD SANS."

"aw, ya know i mean it _tongue in cheek_."

"SAAAAAAAAAAANS!!!"

Sans tried his best to keep from shaking even though he wanted to laugh. Papyrus stomped his foot, a physical vent for his irritation (and to hide his own amusement).

"IF YOU ARE GOING TO RUIN THIS POSSIBLE SIBLING BONDING ACTIVITY WITH YOUR TERRIBLE PUNS, THEN YOU CAN GIVE THE HUMAN HER MEDICINE YOURSELF!!" Papyrus finally declared after composing himself, crossing his arms.

"no problem, bro. then hows about we go shopping for human food? didn't tori mention some kinda high end organic place?" Sans was pleased to see the hidden smile grow just a little bit more, before his brother turned away to rummage for the pills. He pulled them out, holding them up victoriously. He was generous enough to open the bottle, and hold it out so Sans could take one. Sans pulled out the little things as delicately as he could, the pills rather small and chalky against his bones. He supposed small was a good way to help keep the human from choking on them...

He reached down to hand his new pet her medicine, only to freeze upon taking in Korinna's expression. Her eyes were watery and damp, pupils constricted in fear. Her face had paled, and as he had felt before, she was shaking. Tears streamed down her face as she reached out to take the pill in shaking hands, only to look more sick by the second.

His human was damn near traumatized just by looking at the thing, and Sans was expected to make her _eat it_?!

"heh... welp. guess this ain't happening." Sans pulled the pill out of Korinna's reach, setting it on the table by the pill bottle.

"SANS!" Papyrus scolded, although he could tell his brother was just as shaken and alarmed, the confidence drained from his voice. "THEY NEED THAT!"

"yeah. but she doesn't like it. look, see?" Sans brushed his thumb against the human's cheek, pulling it up to show his brother the glistening liquid (as if he hadn't seen it on her face). "she's crying."

"IT IS A GENIUS TACTIC! BUT SHE CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO STARVE!" Papyrus ground his teeth, averting his eyes as he wrung his hands. "I KNOW IT IS NOT... PLEASANT, BUT YOU CANNOT LET YOUR HUMAN WASTE AWAY JUST BECAUSE- BECAUSE YOU WANT TO SPOIL HER." Papyrus was trying to rationalize it, but Sans could see this didn't sit well with him either.

"stress isn't good for pets either tho," Sans reminded him, rubbing Korinna's back, pleased to see her breathing was slowing back down.

"THAT IS ALSO TRUE..."

There was an awkward silence as the two of them stood between a rock and a hard place. Sans wracked his brain for a solution. "...hows about we go shopping now, and if we cant find anything she'll eat, then we go with the pill. whole reason she needs it is 'cuz she won't eat, so... if she eats, she doesn't need it, right?"

"THAT!" Papyrus chirped. "IS! A DECIDEDLY EXCELLENT IDEA!!" He jumped to attention, his enthusiasm returned three-fold as he clapped his hands excitedly "AND VERY UN-LAZY!! YOU'RE ALREADY IMPROVING, BROTHER!! I KNEW THIS WOULD WORK!!! NYEH HEH HEH!!! VICTORY FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS!!" Paps dashed out of the kitchen, heading for the car.

Sans smiled, slowly getting to his feet to follow. _This would work._ He would go to every store in the city tonight if he had to. He wasn't going to ever let his human see those awful drugs again. "its ok, korrina," he found himself murmuring. "its okay. we'll go find ya some good food. gotta be something ya like out there, right, doll? its ok. no more pills."

His human wiped the last of her tears away. She yawned, before snuggling again back into his arms, relaxing. Sans again felt that spasm of affection in his SOUL. This poor thing was trusting him to take care of her. Even if she couldn't understand, he had to do his best.

"...i promise."


	4. Grocery Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The skeletons take you to a grocery store

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad XD but have it

You slept through the car ride. You didn't bother to look up, even when the skeleton carried you again into the chill autumn wind. Maybe they decided to take you back to the store?

It didn't matter.

The next thing you know you're being carried out of the car, the skeleton holding you, the leash now tethered to you coiled firmly in one hand. You had absolutely no intention of letting this guy lead you around on a leash. That was too much work. If you kept pretending to sleep, you figured he would either have to carry you, or drag you by your throat and choke you to death.

It was quite the statement to your state of mind when both options were equally appealing in their own right.

You winced a little at the sudden burst of the other skeleton's voice, boisterous and unnecessarily loud. You felt the skeleton holding you tighten his hold, rubbing at your back. He rumbled back at his companion as they continued to walk, until you heard a familiar whooshing noise. You heard footsteps, the ambiance of a distant crowd.

More importantly, though, you smelled _food._

Not the shit that you had been offered for the last only-god-knows-how-long, but _actual fucking **food**_. You sat a little straighter, and opened your eyes. You were in a huge supermarket, with display after display of fresh fruit and vegetables and freshly baked breads. Your stomach made a loud, demanding noise, growling with such ferocity it sent a tremor through your whole body. You felt your face heat up from embarrassment at your blatant display of weak will, hiding your face in your hands and biting back a scream as you heard and felt the monster holding you start laughing.

You frantically tried to wipe away the saliva leaking from the corner of your mouth. You were disgusted with yourself, reacting like that just from smelling peppers, and onions, and was that honey? _Fuck_. Your stomach growled again, and you tried to curl up into a smaller ball in his arms as the monster continued to carry you inside.

The skeletons exchanged a few words, the taller one taking possession of a shopping cart much too big to have ever been used by a human, before speeding off to the left. You peeked up to see that they were entering the fruit section. Your eyes darted around, the heaviness in your limbs suddenly even more leaden. _Grapes_. How long had it been since you had a grape? Or an apple? _Holy shit you were fantasizing about fruit how hungry were you?_ Your gaze lingered on the bundle of tiny green fruit, remembering the subtle but refreshing burst of flavor they could give.

The monster holding you carried you closer to the grapes, casually, meandering in that general direction as he stopped to inspect the other displays. Occasionally he would pick something up, and offered it to you; he tried a pineapple, and a watermelon (and wow, okay, that one was tempting in it's own right, but what were you supposed to do with a watermelon you couldn't get open?), and a peach, but you didn't go for any of them. There was no point. This was a _store_ , and you weren't in any position to buy a damn thing. Even if you were reduced to being some monster's pet, you'd be damned if you stooped to common thievery. The monster must have decided the watermelon looked good too, since he plopped it into his companion's cart quietly, before going back to his aimless exploration.

A dog monster came close, holding onto a human by a leash.

The monster holding you stopped, greeting the dog monster. The dog monster jumped, startled, yelping out 'sans' while pulling the human leading them up short. The human (a guy with a slightly darker skin tone than you and defined muscles), yelped at being pulled up short, before turning around and shaking his fist at the monster. "Warn a guy before you do that, asshole!"

You side eyed the other human. He looked to be in good condition, wearing comfortable cargo pants and a slightly oversized t-shirt. He glared up at the dog monster before looking at you. "You okay up there?"

You didn't know how to respond to that. You were certainly _not_ okay, nothing about this situation was okay, but you weren't actually hurt, and so far the skeleton hadn't done anything bad to you (besides buying you, putting a collar on you, and trying to feed you from a dog dish). You looked away from the stranger (who clearly had his shit together compared to you) and shrugged. The skeleton rubbed at your arm, as if sensing your distress and trying to soothe it away.

The guy nodded. "Yeah. I get you. Lemme guess, new? Don't know Hotdog Guy too well yet, right?" He grinned devilishly. "Take it from me, these guys are fucking pushovers. Just gotta learn their tells and then you can basically walk all over them. Watch." He grabbed on the leash he was attached to, and gave two sharp tugs. "Hey, asshole! I did _not_ walk your blind ass three blocks so you could gossip with the hotdog vendor! Make with the figs!"

The dog monster said something to the other human, reaching out to the display and pulling down a few bags of some kind of fruit you weren't familiar with. You couldn't read the weird monster script on the label either. The other human pumped their fist in victory, smirking as he watched the dog monster load his half-cart with the things. "See? Took a year to get him this well trained, but it ain't much different than training a regular dog."

Your blinked down at the guy. He was talking like he was _ok_ with being a _pet_. No, he was talking like he wasn't the one on the leash, that he was the one in charge! You... you didn't understand. How could he possibly be this acclimated to so much _degradation and dehumanization_ that he didn't even seem to notice the shithole you were all in?!

The dog monster kept rambling to the skeleton, who listened. Then he seemed to ask a question, to which the dog monster paused, considering how to respond. He then carefully opened one of the bags and offering one of the fruits delicately. The skeleton took it, pinned gingerly between his thumb and forefinger (the thing was comically small compared to his hand), and put it in your lap. You picked it up, examining it: a brownish colored thing the size of your palm. You still had no idea what the hell it was. You honestly couldn't bring yourself to care enough to try it either.

"If you're not gonna eat that, pass it here," the other human said.

You looked down at him again, then tossed him the fruit. He caught it, smiling happily before starting to eat it. You sighed, looking away. You just wanted to curl up and... And not be bothered. This was all too much. Why wouldn't they just leave you alone?! Why wouldn't they just let you suffer in peace?

The two monsters must have finished their conversation, because the dog monster pat his leg and started walking. The human looked back at you before darting ahead just in time to pull the dog monster away from a table covered in pineapples. You supposed he wasn't kidding about the blind thing.

The skeleton kept moving, until he stopped in front of the grapes (which you had almost gotten yourself to forget about. The skeleton seemed to examine them. You pointedly looked away. It didn't really matter what he decided to do, you couldn't change or influence his decision. That other guy was out of his mind, thinking anything you did _actually mattered._

The skeleton finally made his decision, picking up the bundle carefully by the vine. It was almost funny, watching this lumbering giant skeleton try and pick up the grapes. He then held the bundle out to you. You looked at it, swallowing back more saliva. Your hands itched to take even just one of them, but they weren't _yours_ , and okay, maybe it was ridiculous to be concerned about the ethical implications of eating a grape you hadn't paid for when you were being cradled in the arms of a giant monster that literally bought you not an hour ago, but...

 _Fuck it_ , it didn't matter anyway.

You reached out and picked one of the little fruit balls off the vine, popping it in your mouth and closing your eyes to enjoy the first bit of actual food you'd had in ages. You might have made an embarrassing little noise. You didn't care. You were beyond caring.

You looked up when you felt that skeleton hand again pet your head. The grapes were no longer being held, instead seeming to float off to the side as the skeleton murmured to you, massaging at your skull. You watched, dumbfounded, as three more bundles of grapes levitated into the air, surrounded by a blue glow, and began to follow the skeleton as he started walking back towards his companion.

The other skeleton had apparently been busy, gathering a rather impressive collection of other fruits. The monsters exchanged words, before starting to offer you samples of everything. You... You were a rather weak willed creature. It was easy to ignore offers of foods you didn't like, but the things you _did_ like? You didn't care enough about your inadvertent hunger strike to turn them down. After they went through everything in the fruits isle, they went to the vegetables, and did the same thing. You, being so easy to bribe, were content enough to eat the things you liked.

Then they handed you an onion.

Now, you _loved_ onions. You did. The trouble was that raw onion wasn't near as good as cooked onion, and you had to peal it to get to the edible bits. You didn't have a knife to cut it either...

The skeleton went to take the onion away.

You didn't want to let go. You _didn't_. But you knew it was pointless to fight. You had to fight your own grip to make your fingers let go.

You noticed they put a few onions in the cart, despite the fact you didn't eat it. Either you didn't understand these skeletons at all, or they were bending over backwards trying to get you to eat, even more so than the rabbits from the store. It was... sweet? In a creepy sort of way.

It could be worse, you supposed.

They next brought you to the bread isle. This was another guilty pleasure of yours. The monsters were apparently giving out free samples, bagels and small bits of fresh loaves. You noticed other humans snacking on them, some of them eyeing you (or maybe the monster holding you) curiously. Not that the other human/monster pairs hadn't been eyeing the three of you from the beginning, you were just more aware of it now (possibly because you actually had a little food in you by this point, making you more alert).

This time it was the taller skeleton who presented you with a bagel, which you took and ripped into without preamble. _Holy shit_ , it was the good kind, an everything-bagel with seeds and pepper and _fuck_ , ok, you were outright moaning at that, like the shameless little foodie you were. The monsters chattered over your head, but you didn't care. You didn't even care when the skeleton holding you moved your hair from your face. You didn't care about anything but the fact you actually had something to eat; food had never tasted so good.

This was the most you had eaten in only god knows how long, and you were already feeling full. After licking a few sticky seeds from your fingers, you sank back into the skeleton monster's arms, where it was warm, fully intending to go back to sleep. You almost succeeded, except then you heard that word again, 'sans', and it drew your attention.

You looked up just in time to see a _huge ass goat thing_ approach. You shook, trying to hide more in the skeleton's arms (the devil you know, and all that). This goat was _massive_ , dwarfing the skeleton holding you (and was probably even taller than the other one, if you were to take a guess). It was the goat that had said the word. The skeleton turned, greeting the new monster.

The goat let out a gasp of 'sans', bending down to get a better look at you, clasping their paws (hands? hooves?? what??) in front of them and making little cooing noises at you. You clutched at the fabric covering your lap, fuming. _Of course, you were still a pet. Not a person._ It didn't matter how nice the monsters were to you, you were still less than human (sentient) in their eyes.

The skeleton said a word that you had vaguely noticed being repeated before, although it didn't seem particularly familiar to you. The goat repeated it, looking at you expectantly. You ground your teeth, a part of you considering how satisfying it would be to punch her in the smug little snout for talking to you like that, like a child, like an animal. The impulse died like a suffocated fire, and you returned to apathy. _It didn't matter what you thought. It didn't matter what you did. Nothing was going to change._ The weight of that thought seemed so much more, like some tiny hope that had been kindled inside you was crushed in that seemingly insignificant instant.

You looked away, closing your eyes and trying to shut out the rest of the world as you curled up to once again sleep through the awfulness existence had brought down on you.

* * *

Korinna slept through the car ride, which Sans was more than okay with. It gave him plenty of time to attach her leash (not that he planned on putting her down, but better safe than sorry). He again found himself running his bare phalanges through the soft tufts of hair on her head, watching the light shimmer off of it, showing different shades and hues.

He got the strangest sense of deja vu.

Which he quickly brushed off.

The uneventful ride ended, and Papyrus parked the car in front of a large warehouse like building. "I BELIEVE THIS IS THE RIGHT PLACE!" Papyrus said with more certainty than his words would otherwise convey, opening the door to let in the chill autumn wind.

The noise and cold must have startled the human, because Korinna bristled in his arms, stiff and uncomfortable. Sans stroked at her back, shifting his hold on her as he got out of the car and headed inside. "do ya think they have free samples?"

"YOU ARE NOT EATING THE HUMAN FOOD, SANS," Papyrus deadpanned.

Sans chuckled. "no, bro. so we could try and feed korinna."

"YOU SAY THAT BUT I KNOW YOU."

The three of them entered the store, and Sans could feel immediately that the new place had an affect on his little pet. Korinna sat straighter against his arm, blinking up and looking around in confusion. Her middle (her stomach, if he remembered his human anatomy correctly) made a loud, demanding noise, growling with such ferocity Sans would have thought it to be a beast all its own. Sans found he couldn't help his laughter.

He felt a little bad when she immediately tried to hide her face, turning a cute cherry color that made him smile for no obvious reason.

"i think she's hungry, bro," Sans snickered, long lost optimism swelling in him at the visceral reaction just walking into the store had pulled from his pet. There must be something in here she liked, some smell that could entice her, if she was already salivating like that.

"OF COURSE SHE IS HUNGRY, SANS!! THAT WAS NEVER IN QUESTION!!" Papyrus retorted, but he too looked pleased, his own hope soaring.

Korinna wiped at her face, like she were trying to banish the color that only deepened along with the drool. _Cute_. She curled up tighter in his arms, and Sans found he liked it more than he should have, liked having her bury into him for protection. He wished she didn't feel like she needed it, but he liked that he could be it.

Sans then turned his attention to the store itself, reminding himself of their task. "where should we start?" he asked, a bit overwhelmed by the vast selection.

Papyrus grabbed a cart, excited to begin a new shopping experience. "I DO NOT KNOW!! MAYBE THE FRUIT ISLE?? ARE HUMANS ALLOWED TO EAT FRUIT??"

"must be," Sans mused. "otherwise there wouldn't be any in a human food store, right?"

"GOOD POINT! THEN LET US BEGIN WITH FRUIT!!"

They headed to the left, where the fruit was sequestered. Sans kept his head up, but his eyelights were trained largely on his pet, hoping for some indication of interest. His patience was rewarded when he saw her eyes lock hard, unwavering, in one particular direction. 

"i think we found something," Sans murmured more to himself than anyone else, following the line of sight of his pet to see she was focusing on a display of fruit. It took him a moment to identify them (Sans hadn't had much experience with human food, and monster food didn't have an analogue for... grapes, right?), but he supposed the name was irrelevant; all he needed to know was if Korinna would eat them or not.

Sans parted from Papyrus, meandering towards his goal as he perused the other wares sprinkled in along the way. He picked up a few of the more interesting ones, offering them to Korinna. She didn't take to most of them, but the big green thing seemed to pique her interest. Sans had no idea what the thing was, but he shuffled back over to slip it into Papyrus' cart anyway, perfectly willing to spend the few G to see what made Korinna's eyes light up.

As Sans got closer to the grapes, he noticed a familiar face approaching. "heya, doggo," he greeted pleasantly.

Doggo jumped, startled. "Sans! Uh... what are you doing here??" Doggo's sudden halt pulled the lead he'd been holding taunt. The human on the other end gave an irritated yelp of its own, before turning around and shaking its fist at Doggo, shouting something irritable.

Sans felt a pang of guilt (he always forgot how easy it was to startle the poor guy). He tried to smile apologetically, already regretting initiating the conversation since he knew Doggo wasn't his biggest fan. "just shopping for my new pet. uh... your human seems kinda upset."

"Thats my seeing-eye-human," Doggo said proudly.

Doggo's human calmed down, realizing Korinna was there. It started making noises at her. Korinna (such a good girl) didn't make any fuss about the other human, even though she was obviously disconcerted about the meeting.

"should probably train it to not bark," Sans joked. "or pull."

"Eh," Doggo dismissed the idea, "He does so well helping me around, I just can't get mad at him, you know?"

"think i'm starting to," Sans admitted, thumbing at Korinna's arm. A part of him didn't like the way the other human was smiling at her, his SOUL jittering with some strange combination of protectiveness and discomfort. He dismissed the feeling, since he had no idea where it was coming from.

Doggo's human suddenly grabbed onto his leash and gave a few sharp tugs, shouting up at the canine. Doggo looked back down at it. "Oh! Sorry, Spot, I almost forgot." The dog monster reached out to the fruit display, pulling down a few bags of some strange brown fruit.

"you understand him pretty well, huh?" Sans found himself commenting, seeing how the action appeased the loud human (Doggo called him Spot?).

"Been with him for a year now, so yeah, a little bit," Doggo admitted, his voice becoming tender and friendly, filled with a respect and affection Sans hadn't heard him use before. "He really likes these things, whatever they're called. Figs? Dunno, but Spot goes crazy over them. Figure he deserves a treat for keeping me from running into walls. And finding my lost shoe."

Sans eyed the human, who was again giving Korinna a smile Sans did not like. Sans then looked back at the figs. "pass me one, would you? i wanna see if korinna will like it."

Doggo paused, and for a moment, he didn't seem to understand. Sans gestured to Korinna, hoping the motion would help Doggo see her better. Doggo's suspicion turned to quiet understanding, and he carefully opened one of the bags of fruit, daintily pulling one of them out and offering it to Sans. Sans hesitated a moment, before plucking it carefully between his thumb and index, amazed by how small such a thing was. After making sure he wouldn't drop it, he placed it carefully in Korinna's lap.

Korinna picked it up, confusion furrowing her brow as she examined the thing. Spot made a noise at her, to which she responded by tossing him the fruit. Spot again made that irritating smile, then started to eat it. Korinna looked less than impressed, nuzzling her face into his jacket like all she wanted to do was go home and sleep, instead of bother with strange food.

"guess thats a no on figs," Sans joked, only mildly disappointly.

"Don't worry, you're figure out what he likes," Doggo reassured. "It was, uh, nice talking to you."

Sans was so surprised by the genuine attempt at cheering him up, his response was a few moments delayed. "yeah. thanks doggo."

Doggo shot Sans a goofy attempt at a friendly grin (he must have felt as awkward as Sans did), before turning back and pat at his leg. "Come along, Spot." He started walking. Sans watched as the human ran ahead and started pulling, leading Doggo just enough to the side that he missed walking into a table of that prickly fruit Korinna hadn't been interested in.

Guess Doggo was right about the human doing a good job. Looked like they had a pretty good bond going. Sans was glad to see it.

It took a moment, but then Sans pulled himself back on task, and approached the grapes. At first he thought they were lumpy mush piles, but upon closer inspection they were actually dozens of amazingly tiny little fruit balls held onto a vine. He didn't think he would be able to pluck one without squishing it (those things were smaller than his eyelights!) so instead, after much consideration, he found an exposed bit of vine and carefully, delicately gripped it between two fingers to lift it up and offer it to his pet.

The effort was more than worth it: Korinna locked onto the fruit with an intensity he had yet to see her display without acute fear. Her slender little fingers twitched in her lap, itching to do something. Sans waited patiently.

Almost like she were worried about being caught, Korinna snaked out her hand, popped a single grape off the vine with a practiced twist, and popped it into her mouth. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she made the most _adorable_ little happy noise, a genuine smile of relief and pleasure curling her lips.

_She ate it._

_SHE ATE IT!_

Sans let go of the fruit physically, letting a bit of gravity magic take hold of it in stead of his hand. He couldn't help petting at her head and shoulders, cooing in delight. "there. see? i knew it. theres a good girl. you'll eat if we get you some good food, huh, doll? good girl, korinna," Sans couldn't help praising, feeling his magic swell triumphantly.

Sans kept up the petting as he snagged a few more grape bundles, and shuffled at the fastest speed he ever bothered moving at (not very fast in the grand scheme of things, but faster) back to Papyrus.

"pap. pap we gotta get these things," Sans explained eloquently, too excited to piece his thoughts together.

"WHAT ARE THOSE?" Papyrus asked as Sans carefully lowered them into the cart, on top of the other things his brother had decided to get (most of it looked like the same kind of things Frisk ate, so if nothing else they had more human food for them).

"no idea but korinna ate one so we gotta get them."

Papyrus's grin brightened. "VICTORY!! NOW LET US SEE IF THE HUMAN WILL EAT ANYTHING ELSE!!"

Sans and Papyrus both became enthusiastic (Papyrus more animated and exuberant by a wide margin) with coaxing little Korinna into trying everything in the store. More often than not, Korinna would ignore the offering, the evidence mounting for what a picky eater she was. But then, then they would stumble upon something she liked. Sometimes it was obvious, with how she immediately bit into the treat and scarfed it down.

Other times, it was less so, like when they handed her an onion.

Sans and Papyrus both watched, expectantly, waiting to see the verdict. Unlike the others, his pet neither inhaled nor rejected the thing outright.

"SHE IS NOT EATING THIS ONE!" Papyrus lamented.

"guess this is a dud too..?" Sans thought out loud, reaching to take the onion away.

It was then that Sans noticed the tension in Korinna's jaw, the way her fingers shook, clinging to it defiantly. She even licked her lips unconsciously, before finally forcing herself to part with the enigmatic little vegetable.

"...or maybe not," Sans smirked, ploping it into the cart along with the other winners. "guess even humans dont like eating raw onions."

"MAYBE IF WE COOK IT??" Papyrus suggested.

"worth a shot."

Another glaring success was in the bakery.

Papyrus picked out a little palm sized bagel covered in every seasoning imaginable. Sans thought it was going to be too much for his picky little pet, but Korinna took it without fuss and bit into it. She went cross-eyed, sagging in his arms and letting out a muffled moan of delight. _It was adorable, more than Sans thought possible._

"i am never going to get over the cute noises she makes when she likes something," Sans admitted out loud, gently nudging her hair from her face so it wouldn't get in the way as she ate.

"I THINK IT IS A LITTLE WEIRD, BUT I AM GLAD YOU LIKE HER, BROTHER!"

Korinna devoured the whole bagel, and Papyrus smugly packed up a good dozen of them and packed them in the cart with everything else. After she finished, the human licked her fingers clean, gave out a quiet little yawn, and curled up closer to Sans' ribs, eyes drifting shut for a nap. Sans felt his SOUL swell, the culmination of his being overflowing with affection for this _cute little thing_ he was already so attached to, now provided for and wearing a smile, a _real smile_. It wasn't a smile Sans got from his jokes, or from pity, or from his superficial attempt at civility. It was a smile he had earned by making a creature’s whole life better, and _stars above, it felt damn good to see a smile on her face._

It was a little scary how easy it was to get attached. It hadn't even been a day yet, and he was already startlingly certain he would do anything for her. It almost felt like picking up from where he had left off, somewhere, some distant time ago. Sans shook off another sense of Deja Vu as he tugged on the sleeve of his jacket, gently tucking the extra material around her bare shoulder for added warmth, smoothing out her hair and again marveling at her softness.

Sans made sure to move as smoothly as possible as he followed his brother to the check-out line.

Thats where he was when he heard a familiar voice call his name. "Hello, Sans!" He turned his head in time to see Toriel coming up behind him, a basket on one arm and Frisk's leash on the other, the little human skipping along beside her in their bright red harness. "Fancy seeing you here!" Sans could hear the question in her voice.

"heya, tori. thanks for telling me about this place. turns out..." Sans turned his whole body, revealing the human still in his arms. "...it was info i needed, heh."

"Oh, Sans!" Toriel breathed, eyes lighting up as she knelt down to be more on level with his charge. "She is adorable! What is her name?"

"decided on korinna," Sans admitted, looking down to see that the extra attention had woken up his pet. Frisk, still a bit too short but obviously curious, hopped a bit in an attempt to see what they were so interested in. Being a well-behaved human, Frisk didn't do more than cross their arms and pout when they found their attempts useless.

"It is a lovely name! Hello, Korinna!" Toriel greeted, smiling sweetly.

Sans was... dismayed was not strong enough of a word, but devastated felt overdramatic. Crushed, maybe? Yes, it felt like his SOUL had been crushed when he saw that, upon seeing Toriel, that beautiful smile on Korinna's face vanished, along with the light that had just begun to sparkle in her eyes. Korinna looked back at his friend for a moment or two, then curlled up tighter, as if to hide.

It was obvious that Toriel didn't take the reaction well either.

"uh, heh... she's shy," Sans tried to explain, although he himself was at a loss for what would change her mood so drastically. "its been a long day, too, so she might just be tired." He found himself holding Korinna closer, protectively, shielding her with his other arm as he gently stroked her skull.

Toriel stood up, nodding, regaining her composure. "Of course. Such things happen. Perhaps, after she settles down a bit more, gets more comfortable, you could bring her over when you visit? Maybe she and Frisk would get along?"

Sans smiled. "i'd like that."

"I as well. See you later, then!" Tori hummed, curling her fingers at Frisk to beckon the child as she continued on with her shopping.

Sans looked back down at Korinna, that protectiveness swelling again in his core.

He was definitely going to get that smile back.

* * *

Nobody noticed the pleased, knowing smile on the little Red Soul'ed child's face. They had been uncertain about this plan at first. They weren't sure if it was better to not meddle in the AFTER, or if they had a responsibility to do something. In the beginning it had been hard, scary, and unclear. But now, now that things seemed to be falling back where they were supposed to be? Maybe this wasn't such a bad way to run their HAPPY ENDING after all?

Frisk wouldn't know for certain for some time, but if 'Korinna' was who they thought she was... Well, things were finally, finally starting to move forward.

And wasn't that very, very interesting?


	5. Dinner, Bath, and Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of a very, very long day for everyone involved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to rewrite half of this chapter, scrapping 3k worth of bs, because I was trying to skip through shit with a montage and get to the exciting stuff. but no. it looked awful. so now you got this hot trash instead. and the fact this is better is kind of sad
> 
> also its 7:30 AM and i'm tired XD so if theres typos that's why

Sans took Korinna home.

He held her as Papyrus went about using the human ingredients to try and make something the human would like. Papyrus had also swiped a human food cookbook from somewhere, and Sans winced at the sound of pots and pans being shuffled about, of innocent tomatoes being pulverized by well meaning fists. He probably should have suggested they try something other than spaghetti that first night.

But Papyrus was having fun, and he seemed to be following the instructions to the letter, despite, "THE STRANGE AND UNUSUAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE HUMAN AND MONSTER RECIPES... SANS DID YOU KNOW YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO USE THE HIGHEST SETTING FOR HUMAN FOOD?!?!?"

Korinna (the good girl, adorable, so soft, _stars_ , Sans was smitten) slept through it all, curled up in the crook of his arm. He couldn't really make himself stop petting her head, playing with her hair. _She was so cute!_

Papyrus eventually called. "DINNER IS SERVED!!! FOR ALL OF US!!"

Sans stood up, cradling his human to his chest and slinking gingerly into the kitchen. The mess was marginal (for Papyrus, although Sans had to admit he was getting better and better with everything except spaghetti), only tomato splatter on the wall and counter.

Sans gently shook his pet. "wake up, korinna. chow time."

Korinna blinked awake slowly (cutely), only to see the mess Papyrus had made. She bristled in alarm, clutching at Sans' arm as her eyes went wide with surprise.

"OH LOOK!! SHE IS EXCITED ALREADY!!" Papyrus preened, picking up the now clean dog dish and scooping a small helping of spaghetti into it. He set it down, shifting from foot to foot excitedly.

Sans put Korinna down in front of her dinner.

Korinna looked down at the waiting spaghetti, the corners of her mouth downturned, eyes narrowed. She then spun on the balls of her little feet and crossed her arms, sitting down facing away from the bowl.

Sans and Papyrus drooped despondently in unison.

"I DO NOT UNDERSTAND?!?!?! I FOLLOWED THE CONFUSED HUMAN RECIPE TO THE LETTER!! WHY?!?!?!?!"

"dunno bro."

Papyrus kept scratching his chin as he thought. "MAYBE IT DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO EAT FROM THE BOWL???"

Sans looked back down at his pet. "i mean... maybe??"

Papyrus made a plate of monster spaghetti (which didn't look even remotely as appealing as the human portion), setting it on the floor next to Korinna's dog dish. He knelt down and mimed eating the spaghetti. "AUDIBLE EATING NOISES!!! SEE?? THIS IS THE THING YOU DO WITH DELICIOUS FOOD!!!"

Sans swore Korinna gave his brother the most unimpressed look in existence. That was the face of someone thinking, 'you're kidding, right?' Then she pulled up one hand, adjusting it until she had the back of her hand facing Papyrus, and all of her fingers were curled in towards her palm... except the middle one, which stood erect.

She held it there for a few moments, as if to make certain her point had gotten across, before letting it fall back into her lap and turning to, again, stare at the opposite wall.

Papyrus looked up at Sans accusingly. "SANS!!! WHEN DID YOU HAVE THE TIME TO TEACH HER THAT TRICK?!?!? AND WHY?!?!?"

"wasn't me bro," Sans had to say. "but its great." It was adorable. It was absolutely adorable. "i wonder how i can get her to do it again..."

"HOW ABOUT YOU TEACH IT NOT TO DO THAT BECAUSE IT IS RUDE AND INSTEAD TEACH IT TO EAT?!?!?" Papyrus groaned, standing back up.

Sans chuckled, sitting down. "well... she ate when we hand fed her, right? maybe..." Sans carefully reached and plucked a single noodle from the bowl, and dangled it in front of his human. "chow time," he hummed, hoping to make that the command for eating.

Korinna flipped him off again, refusing to even sniff the noodle (despite it being the best looking noodle his brother had ever had a hand in cooking).

"maybe she just don't like noodles..?"

"MAYBE SHE IS STILL SICK AND NOODLES ARE JUST TOO MUCH FOR HER AT THE MOMENT..."

Sans sighed, setting the noodle back in the bowl. "where'd ya put the grapes and bread?"

Papyrus crossed the kitchen, opening the cold fridge (as opposed to the hot fridge), and pulling out the bag of grapes. He handed them to Sans, who gingerly pulled out a bundle with as much care as possible.

Sans attempted to pull one of the little fruit balls off himself. They were so small, and unlike the pills they were fragile and soft and very, very squishable. He concentrated as best he could on getting his grip just right, trying to pull the little thing off the vine. His first attempt ended up squishing the thing into mush between his finger and thumb.

Korinna made a snuffling, choked off noise that Sans immediately _adored_. _Was that a snort?!_ He looked up to try and catch her expression, but she had turned her head away, covering her mouth with one hand. _So cute._ He tried smushing another one on purpose, to see if it would get the same reaction. It didn't. Sans decided not to be too disappointed, focusing on the fact that the noise was possible, and again returned to carefully extracting the little grape.

He finally got one free, offering it to his human with a soft murmur of, "chow time." The human side-eyed the treat, expression almost suspicious, skeptical, before slender fingers hesitantly reached out to take the fruit. Sans sighed in relief at seeing Korinna consume the grape. He then offered her another, which she also took, licking her lips and eyeing the vine in a silent plea for more.

Sans chuckled, pulling another one off (he was getting pretty good at that) and setting it instead in the empty dog dish beside the one filled with spaghetti. Korinna followed his movements with her lovely eyes, only to ignore the fruit completely and instead return to staring at the far wall.

The scientist in Sans couldn't help connecting the dots. "hey bro, can ya put some of that human spaghetti on a plate?"

"YOU ARE NOT EATING HUMAN FOOD!!"

"no, for korinna. i think she doesn't like the dog dishes."

Papyrus raised a brow ridge. "LEAVE IT TO YOU TO PICK OUT THE PICKIEST HUMAN EVER."

Sans graciously declined to mention that it had initially been Papyrus who picked her out. "c'mon bro. she has high standards, and who else but you can meet them?"

Scoffing (but pacified), Papyrus pulled down the plate and did as he was asked, handing it over to Sans, who put the grapes back in the bag and used his hand to pull up a noodle for his human. "chow time?"

Korinna inspected the offered pasta warily, shooting Sans a look, then carefully guided the noodle into their mouth and slurped it down.

She ate it.

"heh. glad i still know how to use my _noodle_."

"OH MY GOD SANS, HOW CAN YOU PUN WHEN OUR PET WON'T EAT FROM HER DISH?!?!?"

Sans fed his picky little human another noodle, smirking at how his brother had used the plural possessive. He supposed he couldn’t blame him: Korinna was just so _cute_ (although a part of him felt distressingly defensive?? that was odd). "guess that means we gotta hand-feed her."

"OF COURSE!! THEN!! IN THAT CASE!! WE CAN TEACH IT TABLE MANNERS!!!"

"you never let the pet rock eat at the table."

"THE PET ROCK WASN'T SO PICKY IT WOULDN'T EAT ITS SPRINKLES FROM ITS ROCK DISH!!"

Sans chuckled, going to pick up another noodle, only for the slimy thing to slip between his phalanges. He tried again, and accidentally broke it in half. Sans squinted down at the plate, wondering why he was having trouble getting a hold of the pasta _now_.

Korinna made that soft breathy noise again, before reaching up to pull a noodle to her by herself. Sans felt his SOUL swell with something warm and nice. _He really liked that sound. It sounded almost like laughter!!_

* * *

From there, dinner continued without a hitch. Sans ate his plate of indescribable spaghetti, only a tiny bit jealous of Korinna's better menu. Korinna ate her fill, which wasn't much even given her size, but Sans supposed she had to ease in to eating more. He pulled her carefully into his lap, holding her as he and his brother had their usual brand of dinner conversation, which amounted to Papyrus telling Sans about his day (even though Sans had been with him through half of it), and Sans being quite pleased to hear it had gone as well as could be expected.

Papyrus did the dishes, Sans lazed in his seat. Korinna relaxed in Sans' arms. The sun was shining. The birds were singing. Life was good. 

"OK SANS!!" Papyrus chirped, shaking his rubber gloves of dishwater before exchanging them for his general-purpose red ones. The dishes were finished. "IT IS TIME FOR THE HUMAN BATHING RITUAL!!"

"really, bro?" Sans asked, sighing. "really gotta do that tonight?" He tightened his grip on Korinna every so slightly.

"YES REALLY!!" Papyrus pulled out a small pamphlet. "THE NICE HUMAN TENDER RABBIT LADY WAS VERY CLEAR THAT GOOD HYGIENE IS A MUST FOR A HAPPY, HEALTHY HUMAN!! BUT IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO IT, THEN I-"

"no, i got it." Sans got up, cradling Korinna closer. "little bit of a tour, then right to bathsville."

"THATS THE SPIRIT!"

Sans shuffled back into the livingroom, nudging Korinna softly. She'd fallen asleep, and he was loathed to wake her up, but he'd never hear the end of it if this whole schedule his brother had planned in his head didn't get followed. And while something about... _bathing_ his human put a bad taste in his mouth that had nothing to do with his brother's unusual cooking, letting Papyrus do it was even worse somehow.

He was probably just imagining things.

Korinna stirred, blinking up at him with obvious confusion (and a bit of irritation -- _even cranky looked cute on her_ ).

"hey, korinna, time for the tour. this is the livingroom. gotta nice tv. my favorite couch, a bookshelf, a table. pretty standard." Sans couldn't help rambling. He made himself calm down. He knew he was just stalling. _Why was he stalling?_ It was just giving his pet a bath.

Right?

He carried Korinna up the stairs, stopping in front of Papyrus' bedroom door. "this is my bro's room. you probably won't be in there much. heh." he crept down the hall, to his room. "this is my room. well. uh. our room now i guess. heh." Something about that made his soul flutter. _He was seriously smitten huh? Wonder if thats healthy..._

Korinna didn't look quite as engaged as Sans could have hoped, but that was understandable. She was in a new place, and was likely quite confused. He didn't blame her.

The bathroom was actually downstairs, under the staircase... but Korinna needed something to wear to bed. And... Sans loved his brother, he did, but none of the clothes he'd bought looked comfortable to sleep in. Sans was sure he had an old shirt that had shrunk in the wash somewhere... He went into his room, rummaging in the back of his closet until he found the box of old clothes.

Score. Clothes from when he was a kid! Stripes aside, it was a much better fit, even if it would still hand on Korinna like a dress.

That problem solved, Sans scooped Korinna back up and took her down to the bathroom.

He set her down by the sink, marveling at how her chin just managed to clear the edge. He ruffled her hair, an idea coming to mind. "stay," he murmured, before darting out of the room, fetching the step stool from the upstairs closet, and coming back down to set it by the sink. Korinna hadn't moved other than to sit on the toilet ( _which, huh, was just the right size for her; what were those for again? humans, he knew, but he couldn't recall what_ ).

"ok, korinna, c'mere a sec," Sans said softly, snapping his fingers in the hopes of getting her attention. Korinna looked up at him, eyes focusing on his hand (good, perfect, she could hear that), then looking back at her lap, unmoved and disinterested (less good). Sans tried once more, before giving up and picking Korinna up gently, to set her on her feet in front of the stool. Then he guided her up the steps, holding her hand carefully, until she was standing up on the stool high enough to reach the sink proper. "so, this is the sink. this is where you can wash a bit. or drink i guess. i wont tell pap if you wont." He showed her how to use the nobs, how the water came out of the faucet.

Korinna gave him the most empty, deadpan expression. _Cute. Why is everything she does cute?!_ He laughed. Sans couldn't help himself. It was too much. "ok. ok. i get it. no need to _faucet_ so soon." He paused, hearing the rimshot in his head, only for his pun to go unacknowledged. He sighed. "now i'm all wet. i hope you're happy," he teased, more to amuse himself than anything.

Suddenly something was missing. He just didn't know what.

Sans shook his head. "guess there's no avoiding it..." he grabbed a towel, set Korinna firmly on the floor, and... and he closed his eyes, looking away as he pulled her gown off. He didn't know why, but seeing her nude seemed... wrong. _Why? She was just a pet, right?_

He managed to get it off, and quickly wrapped the towel around them, before moving to get the water in the tub. He was actually a bit nervous about this part. _The handler had said that humans were sensitive to temperature, so... what was the right one? What was too cold? Too hot?_ It didn't help that he was a bit temperature resistant. He ended up just running the hot and cold equally, hoping that would be okay, and filling the tub just enough before scooping the human (towel and all) and easing them into the water, on alert for any sign of discomfort.

It seemed to be fine, so next he-

...

_What was next???_

"hey, pap??" Sans called. "still got that pamphlet??"

Two seconds later, the paper was slid under the door. "YOU ARE WELCOME BROTHER."

Sans sighed in relief, drying his hands and pulling it over to scan. _Ok. Shampoo in head hair only. Conditioner in head hair only. Body soap everywhere else. So... like Undyne._ He could handle that.

The bathroom door opened and Papyrus's arm stuck itself in, setting a bucket of just such amenities on the floor. "AGAIN YOU ARE WELCOME."

"you're the best, bro."

The door closed, and Sans dragged the bucket over. He took a moment to pull on the rubber gloves lovingly provided, then got the shampoo...

* * *

The water seemed too cold to you, but then again, you remembered liking warmer showers. You supposed it could be worse. It could be freezing cold.

He'd filled the tub up to the point where it reached your shoulders when you were sitting down (which wasn't anywhere near the full capacity of this oversized tub). You sat there, clutching the now soaked towel to your body, staring at the water and wondering what you were supposed to do. He seemed distracted. You dunked yourself underwater just long enough to get your hair wet. It wasn't clean, but it was better than doing nothing.  
After some loud, half shouted exchange with the taller skeleton, the shorter one (your 'keeper?' what were you supposed to call him. definitely not 'master' or 'owner') put on latex gloves (thank god you weren't allergic, that could have been awful), and started to wash your hair, beginning with shampoo.

A part of you wanted to rage with the indignity of it. But, why bother? They were going to do what they wanted. They always would. And hey, it could be worse. At least he was gentle about it.

Funny enough, he didn't seem to know how to _rinse_ your hair after he'd gotten the soap in. You ended up having to do it yourself when he let go of you to check on the little pamphlet he'd been given. You ducked under the water just like before and quickly ruffling your hair until the soap was out. It wasn't ideal (you hated baths compared to showers, not that you had a choice in the matter), and you felt like there was still soap in your hair despite your valiant attempt to be rid of it.

After putting on the conditioner, he got the idea to use the detachable showerhead. That was something you were grateful for.

Of course your hair was the easy part. At least emotionally. Next came the rest of you.

For a long moment, the skeleton stared helplessly at his pamphlet, eyelights jumping back and forth. You didn't know what he was looking at or why, but the pictures on the paper included soap suds and humans, so... your best guess was a hygiene manual.

Guess it wasn't really any of your business... not like it mattered.

But then, why were you so irritated, just looking at the paper?

Eventually, the skeleton just... filled the bathtub with body soap, stirring it around a bit so it pervaded the tub, and made bubbles. Then he sat with his back against the outside of the tub, not really looking at you at all. You used that time to scrub yourself (you were never one to enjoy being dirty). Eventually, you'd gotten everything you could and went still. After another moment or two, the skeleton peaked at you out of the corner of his vision. He must have seen something, because he stood up, started draining the tub, lifted you out, and exchange your damp towel for a fresh, dry one. Specifically, he took the damp towel away, used a fresh one to gently dry your hair, and then pulled a very large shirt over your head.

The shirt smelled like chalk, mothballs, and something else you couldn't quite name (but which was almost pleasant). It was soft. It hung down to your knees, but the neck hole was small enough not to fall clean off you (although not by much, it still left a good bit of your shoulders bare).

Damp, but clean, and well fed. You hadn't felt this good in... a while.

Pity the collar sat heavy around your neck.

The skeleton scooped you up, and carried you back upstairs, down the hall to the second room. The same one he'd taken you into before. He set you on the unmade bed, moving the single pillow against the wall so it was between you and the plaster. Then he lay down beside you, boxing you in between pillow and skeleton.

The lights went out seemingly on their own (magic?), and then there was only the darkness, his eyelights, and whatever meager illumination managed to crawl through the window, growing dimmer and dimmer by the minute.

You supposed this was his bedroom. And this was bedtime. Lights out.

So, because it didn't matter that you weren't quite tired yet, or that you would surely catch a cold without a blanket to keep you warm in the night, you rolled over to face away from him, snuggling as much as you could into the pillow.

The skeleton put an arm over you, tucking you into the bend of his elbow, and scooted closer. You could feel his breath on the back of your neck (the logistics of which you didn't have the faculties to puzzle out), painting the air with the scent chalk, ketchup, and that same something else you couldn't name. A part of you, a tiny voice in the back of your mind, seemed to think this was concerning, but you honestly didn't care. He was warm, and he wasn't hurting you.

And people cuddled with their pets all the time. Why should you be any different?

He said something, a whisper, but you heard it again; that word you had been hearing all day. [Korinna]. You were certain it was your new name. _It sounded... kind of pretty._ You wondered what it meant. _Probably something stupid like Fluffy, or Oreo, or Lucky._ It was a pet name after all.

But it could be worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOUR FIRST WORD!!!  
> *celebratory kazoo*

**Author's Note:**

> [FIND ME ON TUMBLR](https://kamari333.tumblr.com) if you want


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